These iconic long-weekend pit stops have saved countless lives. But they are now harder to find

Colleen Furlanetto often spends long weekends stationed on a track, winding back, along the road to Gundagai. But instead of being holed up in an old-fashioned shack, she is perched inside a van at a rest stop just outside Euroa.

Furlanetto is one of hundreds of volunteers across Australia who help run about 160 active Driver Reviver sites for weary motorists over busy holiday periods. Travellers are offered a free drink, biscuit and chat to fight fatigue and reduce the nation’s road toll.

Colleen Furlanetto, a SES Euroa Unit member at a Driver Reviver site on the Hume Highway.Credit: Eddie Jim

But Victoria State Emergency Service (SES) figures provided to The Age this week revealed Driver Reviver sites have fallen by almost a third nationwide since their peak in the early 2000s.

The SES reports the reasons for the increased rarity of the sites include the expansion of cities, commercial service stations, time-saving road upgrades and fewer volunteers.

Furlanetto believes big petrol and food stops have their place, but says her SES unit’s Driver Reviver van on the Hume Highway can better foster connection and remind people to drive safely.

“This is better than stopping at Maccas,” she says.

The coffee stop just off the Hume Highway near Euroa.Credit: Eddie Jim

“It’s not going to cost you the earth. You go to the bathroom, have some respite and a chat. I think people love it. Everybody’s been impacted in one way or another by road trauma.”

In a briefing note, the SES said 67 volunteer-run Driver Reviver sites were open in Victoria over the Easter weekend in 2003. This year, only about 30 were open.

NSW reached a peak of about 98 sites in 2004, but that figure fell to 56 in 2025.

The SES did not have historical figures for Driver Reviver volunteer numbers, nor total hours dedicated per year. Some SES numbers were also rough estimates due to incomplete records.

Fast facts about the Driver Reviver program

• About 220 sites dotted Australia in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Now, there are 175 sites and only 160 remain operational – a 27.3 per cent drop.
• New sites since 2023 include: Hinchinbrook (QLD), Campbelltown (TAS), Geurie (NSW), Mount Barker (WA), Springsure (QLD), Orford (TAS).
• Closed sites since 2023 include: Stawell (VIC), Gingin (WA), Kangaroo Valley (NSW), Port Pirie (SA), Williams (SA).

Source: VICSES

“The main reasons for Driver Reviver closures over the decades is a combination of urban growth and road infrastructure upgrades, including bypasses and service centres with commercial operations that can substitute Driver Reviver with improved amenities,” the SES briefing note said.

“Shorter routes and speed limit increases are also getting people away from the city quicker.”

Allan and Rhonda McCormac founded the national Driver Reviver network in 1989, bringing together a patchwork of independent roadside rest hubs before expanding further.

The couple retired in 2022 and handed oversight to Victoria’s SES, which works with Lions Clubs and other community groups to staff the sites.

SES volunteer Wayne Barnes serves snacks and coffee to the then Victorian police commander Bob Hastings and then-government MPs Andre Haermeyer and Rob Hulls at a past launch of the Easter road safety campaign.Credit: Dominic O’Brien

Allan McCormac, 83, says the decline in Driver Reviver sites was not necessarily a bad thing if roads were being made safer and people were resting elsewhere.

“It’s dynamic, and it needs to change all the time to suit new roads,” he says. “There are new freeways put in that mean that some of the old sites become redundant.”

McCormac believes Driver Reviver still offers something unique compared to service stations.

“The people stopping are engaging with the volunteers, and that builds our culture,” he says. “And that’s something you don’t get in a commercial operation.”

Allan McCormac (right) at a Driver Reviver site in the early 1990s.Credit: Fairfax Archives

Pandemic restrictions, however, hurt face-to-face volunteering and forced dozens of Driver Reviver sites to shutter.

The SES says some sites, such as a stop in Stawell, permanently closed in the last two years as volunteering failed to recover after the pandemic. However, the agency says new and reactivated sites surpassed closures.

“Whilst overall volunteer numbers have remained fairly consistent in recent years, VICSES units across the state are always looking for new volunteers,” a spokesperson said.

This King’s Birthday weekend, the SES reports 71 sites will be active across Australia at different times, including 36 in NSW, 22 in Queensland, 10 in Victoria and three in South Australia.

Roger and Kerrie Dunn from Hampton with kids Lochie and Max at a Driver Reviver stop in 2005.Credit: Wayne Taylor

The Victorian sites are Avenel, Balmattum Northbound, Balmattum Southbound, Dimboola, Dunkeld, Lismore, Marong, Rushworth and Seymour.

Hot tea and coffee is served without a lid, so drivers must stick around and take a longer break to finish it, rather than hitting the road immediately.

The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) reports 136 lives have been lost on Victorian roads so far this year – up 11.5 per cent on the same period last year.

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